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Video: Immigrant in same-sex marriage can stay in US

Closed captioning of: Immigrant in same-sex marriage can stay in US

>>>a big twist in a story that we have been following in this hour, last month, we interviewed a married couple who were facing the possibility of a government force split due to deportation proceedings. this is the same-sex married couple. you may remember them, josh vanderveer and
henry
milandia, a delay in these proceedings filled them with some relief. today josh and
henry
are back and they are back with some big news. it's good to have you back with us. josh, break it down for us, what is the big news?

>>basically yesterday
henry
was being deported and today he's not. the immigration authorities decide they have the power to use their discretion, to look at cases like
henry
's, married to an
american citizen
and close his deportation case.

>>this is historic, correct?

>>yes.

>>how does this make you feel?

>>i'm happy that i can still be with my husband, i can finally breathe again. and i believe that this is like the first day that i can start building a future with my husband because it was always an uncertainty.

>>you said this was part of your
american dream
coming to this country and you wanted to continue building on your
american dream
. did you know that part of that
american dream
framework was going to be history making?

>>not really. but i'm happy to be part of this and i think we work really hard through all this, we're really happy.

>>henry
, you make a really good point because you have been fighting very hard. explain all the legalese that's gone into this because it's been a hard fought battle until this point.

>>it has been, we have spent the last year fighting for our marriage. and we started the stop the deportation project for
gay and lesbian
couples who are facing deportation. we just think that the spouses of gay americans should not be deported. this is the fruit of what we have been doing all year.

>>what about the couples that are on a
federal level
that are facing this, there are six states and district of washington, d.c. that recognize same-sex marriages, but on a
federal level
, there isn't the proper protections in place. so how does this set of precident?

>>you're right, the
defense of marriage act
prevents the government from recognizes any of the same-sex marriages that are happening all over the country. and in new york, that means i couldn't response soror
henry
to be in this country, until the
defense of marriage act
falls, we won't have those 1,000-plus rights that all the nongay couples have. repealing the
defense of marriage act
is what we're going to start work on.

>>does this not mean that the hard work isn't still ahead for you to help other people get to this point?

>>exactly. we can now start building our future together and part of that future is to get fighting for equality in marriages like ours, because we still have a long way to go. but this is a huge step and we're happy.

>>we're happy to tell everybody this story today because this is the third appearance you guys have made with us on msnbc and we could been happier that we get to share this news because it really is monumental and big news for others in this country that are in the same boat like you guys. gentlemen, thank you very